News-Times Staff
JUNCTION CITY - Over the last two months, big plays have seemingly become the norm for Junction City’s offense.
On Friday night, the Dragons struck early and often, capping four first-half scoring drives in under four plays, as Junction City topped Mountainburg 50-14 in the second round of the 2A playoffs.
Junction City (9-2), the 8-2A’s No. 1 seed, move on to the quarterfinals for a showdown against Des Arc next week.
Mountainburg (8-3), the 4-2A’s No. 2 seed, lost for just the second time in their last nine games.
Dhante Gibson, who had 95 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, opened the scoring with a 2-yard run to cap a 60-yard scoring drive in seven plays with Jakiron Cook’s two-point conversion making it 8-0.
It would be Junction City’s longest scoring march of the half.
On the ensuing possession, Mountainburg drove to Junction City’s 4, but were turned away after Jesse Quick was stopped for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from the 7.
On Junction City’s first offensive play of the next series, they padded their lead with a big play from their passing attack, as Brady Hutcheson threw a 91-yard touchdown pass for Kevontae Haynes with Cook’s two-point conversion pushing the lead to 16-0.
A junior, Hutcheson followed his two-touchdown performance from last week by going 7-of-8 passing for 250 yards with three scores against Mountainburg.
Haynes finished with 188 yards and two touchdowns on four receptions in the win.
In the last two games, the duo has collaborated for four touchdowns.
Junction City’s defense came up with a second straight stop in the red zone on Mountainburg’s next possession, and the Dragons needed just two plays to strike again.
Starting at their 18, Cook, who had 138 yards on just eight carries, broke free for a 78-yard run to the 4, and Gibson scored on the next play, also adding the two-point conversion to give Junction City a 24-0 lead.
The Dragons led by the same score after the opening period, but padded their lead early in the second quarter, needing just four plays to traverse 57 yards.
The duo of Hutcheson and Haynes hooked up for the second time on a 14-yard touchdown to make it 30-0.
Mountainburg got on the scoreboard with Ethan Gregory throwing a 6-yard touchdown pass to Austin Taylor to finish off an 84-yard scoring drive with 1:33 left in the half, but Junction City needed just 16 seconds to answer.
After Hutcheson found Haynes for a 48-yard gain, the junior fired a 17-yard touchdown pass to Cook with Gibson’s two-point conversion making it 40-6.
After forcing a punt, the Dragons got the ball back at their 36 with 51 seconds left.
Again, Hutcheson and Haynes hooked up on a 35-yard pass play to give Junction City a first down at Mountainburg’s 29.
Consecutive runs by Gibson netted 24 yards to put the ball at the 5.
On the final play of the half, Jack Smith kicked a 22-yard field goal to make it 43-6 at intermission.
Cook scored on a 1-yard run in the third quarter with Smith’s extra point giving the Dragons a 50-6 lead before Mountainburg scored the final points of the game on a safety coupled with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Gregory to Sean Irvan.
Despite having the ball for less than 13 minutes in the game, Junction City rolled up 488 yards of total offense.
Taylor finished with 126 yards on 22 carries, while Gregory was 7-of-11 passing for 83 yards with two touchdowns for Mountainburg.